Latino leaders begin electoral Victory Project

Stewart M. Powell

Published 5:57 pm, Monday, May 5, 2014

Photo: Charles Dharapak, Associated Press

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Actress Eva Longoria speaks with Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, at an event launching The Latino Victory Project, a Latino political action committee, at the National Press Club in Washington, Monday, May 5, 2014. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) less

Actress Eva Longoria speaks with Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, at an event launching The Latino Victory Project, a Latino political action committee, at the National Press Club in Washington, Monday, May 5, ... more

Photo: Charles Dharapak, Associated Press

Latino leaders begin electoral Victory Project

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Washington --

Actress Eva Longoria and Democratic Party finance chief Henry Muñoz opened the Latino Victory Project on Monday to "capture the momentum" of unprecedented Latino turnout in 2012 in time to help elect Latinos in the midterm campaigns.

The organization hopes to raise funds for its political arm, the Latino Victory Political Action Committee, by tapping many of the 150,000 Latino campaign donors who contributed $32 million to political organizations nationwide in 2012.

A record 11.2 million Latino voters cast ballots in 2012, accounting for 8.4 percent of the electorate. President Obama won an estimated 71 percent of the Latino vote en route to a second term. Yet more than 12 million other voting-eligible Latinos across the country failed to go to the polls.

"If we are the future, then we have to take the future into our own hands," Muñoz told a kickoff gathering in Washington on Monday.

Longoria said the grassroots organization would try to build upon the historic turnout of Latino voters in 2012.

"We stand here in an effort to capture the momentum we have," she said. "We can't be so engaged in the presidential election and elect the president yet not turn out in the midterms to elect the people who have to work with the president."

Despite growing political participation, Latinos still suffer "an incredible lag" between the number of eligible voters and the number who actually vote, cautioned Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas.

As a result, only 28 of the 435 seats in the House and only three of the 100 seats in the Senate are held by Latinos.

The organization identified seven Democratic campaigns destined to win support from the political action committee. The chosen candidates include two Texans - Rep. Pete Gallegos and state Sen. Leticia Van De Putte, who is running for lieutenant governor.